Being a pesco-vegan and going low-FODMAP makes shopping and cooking really difficult.
1. The simple shopping list based on planned meals
The first thing you will need to do is figure out what you’re going to eat for snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then write a shopping list based on these things. Examine the comprehensive list of all the things you can eat, and print it, then sit down with a couple of hours – not while you’re hungry – and make a list. You have to learn what you can and can’t eat, and why.
The Monash University FODMAP app is excellent and you should spend the $9.50 and buy it today.
Don’t make a shopping list that has anything you can’t eat on it, because it is a very sad story when you roll your trolley around the aisles looking at all the things you can’t eat. This has already happened once before when you went pesco-vegan, so do yourself a favour and stick to what you can eat.
2. Nobody knows what low-FODMAP is so make sure you know
The only person that suffers if you eat something you shouldn’t is you. (And maybe some people nearby.) This means you need to learn your list so your shopping trip does not take all day, ruining your schedule. Don’t let going low-FODMAPs eat away at your time.
3. ‘Gluten free’ does not mean low-FODMAP
Gluten free means just that. It doesn’t mean low-FODMAP, no dairy, no meat, no eggs, no cheese. It means no gluten. Nobody labels foods ‘Low-FODMAP’ so you have to read labels for the individual ingredients.
4. Onion and garlic are in pretty much everything
This is where you end up having to make all your own food from scratch. It becomes too much like hard work to read every single label, and be subsequently disappointed because it contains onion and garlic, either powdered or otherwise. This applies to anything seasoned, but also in breads, spices, marinades, sauces, etc.
5. Shop for recipes you can cook
Not everyone can cook, but if you are a pesco-vegan on the low-FODMAP diet, you do not have a choice. Cooking is going to become the new thorn in your side, so better to get a handle on it than to fall into a puddle of tears on the kitchen floor and eat something that won’t do you any favours. Browse this site (and others where you can find them) for ideas and cooking tips, and ask a friend who can cook for some help on making things taste nice. Keep it simple at first, and learn how to make a few key sauces that you can put on everything.
6. Inulin/chicory root is a prebiotic that will give you gas
This is used as a sweetener or fibre supplement added to a lot of foods to boost fibre content, and lower fat and sugar. It is in some gluten-free bread, instant coffees and other products. Check labels.
7. High-fructose corn syrup is a no-go-zone
This additive is found in packaged foods all over the place, so avoid packaged foods altogether where possible. This is a stalwart of the pesco-vegan MS diet anyway, however it becomes more important now for different reasons.